[Bird Doo Head]

I apologize if this is above, but my browser is skipping replies.

Something that will very much help stabilize the walls is parging cement with fibers. Akona Crack Resistant Surface Bonding Cement has lots of long, glass fibers and is even allowed to hold together dry-stack (no mortar) retaining walls. I used it on a well loaded wall & life is good.

Against the wall outside, before back-fill, perhaps a wick drain sheet will be good. One brand name is Dimple Board and one is by American Wick Drain. They stop water from hitting the wall and have channels to direct water to the footer drain, if present.

You're doing a great job!
Paul

 

[Bird Doo Head]

Good idea, thanks. I would have to parge the interior walls but that is probably were it would be more effective. The outside walls have been coated with something below ground level.

I have stone retaining walls on either side of my driveway. One wall has some kind of board against the back side and that wall has no cracks. The other side is cracked and I don't see the board behind that one. You can see the edge of the foam board where the dirt has eroded. I don't know if that is special for the purpose or just insulating foam board. In either case seems to be working.

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I had a situation like yours once and the technical person at Akona said if only one side can be parged, coat the side opposite the pressure. So it sounds like inside is best, just as you wrote. Even with the coating outside, I'd be tempted to parge that side, too.

If freezing is possible, the suggestion was to either parge the outside or otherwise keep water from getting into the blocks & joints.

I've encountered plain insulation foam boards against walls when I have to dig for conduit. I'm not a builder or landscaper, so I don't know if that's standard practice. It seems like it could keep water from pressing on the wall, but the trapped moisture may enter the block, freeze & break a joint or block. (Guessing)

Below is a screen shot of one of the wick drains I mentioned in a previous reply. It may be helpful on both your project wall and the stone wall. I think I've seen sheet drains at big box stores. Block and Brick suppliers have it.

 

[Bird Doo Head]

You need to look at the Carbon Fiber reinforcement for block walls.

That's a good idea. It'll surely leave a strong wall, but so will Akona and other similar products.

The DIY carbon fiber kits I found this spring are scary expensive. One I looked at from NextStar was about $750.00 for 6" wide by 54 feet of product. And, the VOCs are very , very high (at least on the ones we've used at work.)

 

[Bird Doo Head]

I see how the wick drains work but may be hard to find in my area. I saw a demo of the carbon fiber strips. I wonder if they are strong enough to stop Sims Mountain? First I'm going to fix the walls then figure out an affordable way to keep them fixed. I bought a 3/8" wide diamond wheel for my grinder to speed up the removal of cracked mortar. Two mortar seams were pointed after the wall began pushing in so I have to clean them out to get the last little kink out of the wall. I ordered a respirator at the same time but the respirator is lost in the mail so that is my hold up. Thanks for the helpful advice.

If there's one near you, BanaJovy, Orange Depot sells Alino brand Dampro 2 sided wick drains. They'll also ship it to your home. I've seen Dimple Board brand at a Canadian Tire store and on line at Tractor Supply.

These products are cheaper at a masonry supplier if one is nearby. American Wick Drain sells direct if your order meets their minimum..

Should your diamond wheel wear out, Temu has them for about $6.00. I have one with which I've cut hundreds of feet of Type S mortar. For the tight spots, they have diamond carbide oscillating tool blades for $1.52. Again, mine have lasted for miles of mortar, but they cut Type N much faster than S. Downside? Wait time for delivery is usually 8 - 10 days.